Finding You
by Jacqlynn-Frost
Summary: This is about a car that sets out to find her father, and ends up in Radiator Springs. While she's there, she ends up making a few friends, and discovering things about herself that she never even new. I'm not really good at summary's, but hopefully the story is better. Please R&R! Thanks everybody!
1. And so it starts

**A/N Hello people of the Cars fandom! This is my first story about this movie, so please critic me if I need it. It will be much appreciated. ^^**

 **I own non of the movies, nor the characters. I only own this story-line, and my OC's.**

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~OC POV~

I look at the slab of stone sitting in front of me, as rain pours down from the darkened sky above. The world around me is motionless, and nobody says a word. I can't feel anything besides this aching feeling inside the hole where my heart is supposed to be. I feel a single tear slide down my cheek as I close my eyes, trying to escape. I don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe that she's really gone. In my mind, she's still here. She's right beside me, smiling and trying to cheer me up. Another sob escapes my lips, as more tears slip out.

I open my eyes again, and stare at the gravestone. _Amy Holman_ is the only thing that marks the place where my mother will rest forever. I wasn't ready for her to leave me so early, and part of me was angry at her for that. I was angry that she left me alone in this world. She was the only family that I had, really. Ever since I could remember, it was always me and her. I have no idea who my father is, nor do I know anything about him. Mom never really said anything about him. Only that she loved him dearly, but that she just couldn't live in his world. She said that she found out about me only weeks after she had left him. That's all I know.

My eyes refuse to look away from the grave, even as somebody pulls up next to me. I can't get past the swirling emotions, and thoughts long enough to properly acknowledge them. My mind flashes with memories that we shared together, each one seeming so far away now that she's gone. The pain in my heart grows stronger, throbbing with every heart beat.

"Syina, I'm truly sorry for your loss. You're mother meant so much to me, but I know that she meant even more to you. If you ever need to talk, about anything, I'll be here for you." The car beside me says. I look over at them, my face obviously pained. I look into Elliot's green eyes, seeing the same pain in them too. Elliot was my mother's best friend, and he was like a father to me. A father that like's other men, but a father non-the-less. I will always love and admire him, no matter what gender of car he dates.

"Thank you, El. I just don't want to believe that she's really gone." I tell him, my face contorting as new tears sting my eyes.

"I know, hun. I feel the same way, but we have to believe that she's much happier now. She was in so much pain up until the end." He says, looking downwards. His words felt heavy as he said them. My mother had gotten sick, and had spent her final days in a hospital. I spent every moment I could beside her, until one night she closed her eye, and never opened them again.

The few cars that actually attended the funeral, slowly started leaving, sympathetic looks being cast towards me. My mother didn't have many friends, as she was always saying that she'd rather have a few true friends, than many fake ones. So, not many cars had come to grieve, and console each other.

"Come on sweetheart, I don't need you catching a cold out here." El tells me, but I don't want to move. I just want to stay here in the rain, silently asking for this to be a bad dream. I look back at her grave one more time, and I once again feel her presence beside me. I feel her smiling, as she whispers only to me. _"Dry your tears sweetie, and stand tall. I'm in a much better place now, so please don't worry yourself over me."_ I sob again, but my heart feels lighter in the smallest way. It feels as if she really was whispering those things to me. This feeling gives me the strength I needed to tear myself away from her grave. I drive away with El by my side, my mother's words echoing in my head.

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 ***Time Skip- Latter that night***

El's house looks exactly the same as it did when I was here only few months ago. The only difference is the empty oil cans scattered throughout the various rooms. I drive through the house, somewhat relaxing in the familiarity of it all. I can't lie, it feels good to be in a place that I have a good history with for awhile. I feel like everything is slightly normal again, and it makes me realize how much I miss this. I want things to be normal again. The only hard part, is trying to learn how to be normal again, when the most important car to me isn't here.

I feel like I'm about to cry again, but I try my best to fight off the feeling. My eyes are already tired and itchy because of all the crying I've done. I really don't want to make it worse. We move through the house, and go into the kitchen, were El begins to rummage through the cupboards. I sit still, silently watching him as he pulls out two cans of oil. He nudges one towards me, and I look down at it. I know I should drink something, but I'm not very hungry. When it becomes apparent that I don't feel like eating, El looks at me with tired, and worried eyes.

"Syina, please don't start starving yourself. I know you're not in the best state of mind right now, but you really need to eat." El says, looking at me sternly. I give a small, half hearted smile that we both know is mostly fake. I begin sipping on the oil slowly, more for El's sake than my own. I hate worrying my old friend, so I'll drink just to ease him. This has been really tough on the both of us.

My thoughts trail back to my father as I drink. It's a welcome distraction from the dark place they've been in the past few weeks. I wonder to myself what he's like, which something that I've done many times before. In my mind I picture somebody who cares a lot about those closest to him. He's somebody who stands up for his morals and what he truly believes in. I think that he would be kind, and somehow.. stable.

I have admired this image that I've had of him for so long, that I'm starting to really wonder what he's actually like. It's one thing to daydream about him, but it'd be another thing to actually know who he is. I wonder if El would be willing to give me some insight as to what kind of car he was. That is, if El knew anything about him. I never really thought to ask him before now.

"Hey El, can I ask you something?" I say, my voice cracking a little as I speak. I guess all the crying I've been doing is really taking a toll on my body. El looks towards me, slightly surprised. After a moment, though, his expression changes. He gives me a small smile. It's so small, in fact, that it's hard to tell that it's even there.

"Shoot." He says. I can't help but to notice how tired his voice sounds. It makes me wonder if he's been getting about as much sleep as I have in the past few weeks. Which isn't a whole lot. I take a breath, trying to figure how I want to ask this. I know what I want to ask, but I can't figure which words to use. I don't want to bring up what could possible be bad memories, but I can't just say never mind now. I guess bluntly is the best way to do it.

"Did mom ever tell you anything about my dad?" I ask, a little scared of the answer. El opens his mouth, and closes it again. He stares off into the distances for a few seconds, then he sighs. He looks back to me with furrowed eyebrows.

"Syina, what brought this up?" He asks me, and I look away from his intense gaze. I try to search my brain for a reason, but I have a hard time coming up with anything. Well, not anything that I want to admit to anyway.

"I wish I had an answer for you, El.. But I don't. All I know is that he's one of the only family members I have left. And even if I never get to meet him, I at least want to know what kind of car he was. Not his make or anything like that, but who he was on the inside.." I say, still not looking at Elliot. I'm afraid that if I do, he'll see how hurt I am by the fact that I never even knew my own father. I don't even know what his name is...

"Your mother never really liked to talk about it much.. But every now and then, I'd find her sitting out on some cliffs overlooking the forest. The view was stunning, especially when the sunset hit the tree line just right. She would always say that that place reminded her of him. She said that the warmth of the sun made her feel like she was near him again.. Even if it was only for a moment." At this point, I was looking into his eyes again. He took a deep breath before continuing, "Up on that cliff, she used to say that she sometimes thought about going back.. But something always stopped her from doing so. I could tell how much she loved your father, and how it broke her heart to stay away from him." He said, looking away as he finished.

We both sat in silence as his words sank into my brain. I always knew that mom loved my father, but I really knew how deeply she loved him. I had my suspicions of course, but it was hard to confirm them when she rarely talked about him. Even when she did, she was always so vague. It mush have really hurt her to think about him that much. My heart tightened a little at the thought. I wonder what made her stay away from the car that she loved so much. Something really horrible must have happened between them.

"El.. Why didn't she go back to him? If she loved him that deeply, then why would she stay away?" I asked, and he looked back at me with a heart breaking smile on his face.

"I don't really know what happened.. but I believe that your mother had to make a hard decision, so that they both could survive. Sometimes, it's easer to stay away from the person you love, instead of watching the two of you being pulled apart." I bit my lip at his words.. I feel like he knows more than this, but he's not willing to tell me for some reason.

"That makes sense.. sort of." I tell him, and he laughs lightly at me.

"You would have to experience it first hand to really understand it. Besides, a youngster like you-"

"I am not that young! I am twenty-three years old!" I exclaim, cutting him off. I chuckle a little bit, and laughs with me. I always get after him when he says that I'm too young to understand things.

"Compared to me, you're young."

"I can't really argue with you there, old man." I joke with him. After this slight break of tension, we both fall silent again. My thoughts find their way back to the previous conversation about my dad. I'm happy with the information that I now have, but I just don't feel like it's enough. I need to know more about him.. I need to know more about where I came from. I feel like I'll always be partially empty unless I find out more about him. Like his name, and the reason that my mother left him.

"El, do you know anything else about my father? Like his name, or where he could possibly be?" I ask, and he looks at me with serious eyes again.

"I'm sorry Sy, but I've already told you everything that I can." He says. I really don't think that he's telling me everything, but I know I can't force it out of him. El is stubborn that way. I bite my lip, battling with myself. There's two decisions that I can choose here. The first would be to just ignore this feelings, and try to carry on with my life as normal. The other, would be to find somebody else who would tell me more.

"I need to find my father." I say, barley above a whisper. "He's the only one who can tell me more about what happened." My eyes dart to El's face, which wore a shocked expression.

"Syina, listen to what you're saying! You don't even know his name, how can you be expected to even find him?!" He exclaims, but it doesn't change my mind.

"I have to try, otherwise I'll never forgive myself if I don't." I say defensively.

"What are you going to do? Go up to every man in the world and ask if he's your father?"

"If that's what it takes." I say, refusing to back down. El might think that I'm being childish or stupid, but my guts telling me that I have to do this. My gut is usually right, and I'm not going to stop trusting it now. My face is stern, as I stare back at him. After a moment he looks away and sighs.

"I don't really understand you, kid.. but if you truly need to do this, then I'll try to be supportive.." he says, and my face breaks out into a smile. I quickly give him a hard hug, and he hugs me back reluctantly.

"Thank you." I whisper to him.

"Yea, yea. If you're going to do this then, why don't you start by getting some rest. I suspect you'll be traveling a lot in the next few weeks." He tells me, and I laugh a little. With a quick peck on the cheek, I head towards the guest bedroom to get some sleep. El's right, I'll be needing all the rest I can get.

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 **A/N So, yea. That's all I got for now.. And I'm making up a lot of this car stuff as I go, because I honestly didn't think it would be hard to write in a cars POV.. but it is. Anyway, this is good bye for now my dears.**


	2. Welcome home

**A/N Hey guys! ^^ So, there's actually going to be characters from the movie in this chapter. I wanted to introduce them in the last chapter, but I also don't want to rush the story along. This is also part of the reason that I might sometimes take awhile to update.. So please bear with me!  
**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!**

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~Syina's POV~

"Are you sure that you don't want me to tag along?" Elliot asks, and I give him a small smile. It's been a few days since we had our talk about finding my father. Ever since then, El has been doing his best to be supportive. However, I know that deep down, he doesn't want me to go. I imagine that he thinks I'm going to get lost the minute I drive out of town. Which is a valid reason for him to not want me to leave.. or it would be if I had a certain destination. It's hard to get lost when you don't know where you're going in the first place.

"I appreciate the offer, El.. But this is something I have to do on my own." I tell him, my tone asking for understanding. It's not going to be easy for me to leave him behind, but my gut tells me that I just can't take him with me. A quite sigh is all I get as a response, followed by a short pause in the conversation.

"I guess you're really doing this, huh?" He says, his eyes looking towards the ground.

"It's something that I have to do." I tell him, giving him a little nudge before moving towards the main street. I hear his engine lowly purring as he follows quietly behind me. I make it to the end of the long driveway, and look down the road. The sun is shining brightly on the pavement, especially for it being seven in the morning. I drive out onto the pavement, and looking straight ahead.

I'll never admit it out loud.. but I'm kind of scared. I'm afraid of what I'll find, and what I might not find. I've always had a small image of my father in the back of my mind, and I'm terrified to find out if it's true. I could find him, and he could be completely different than what I thought he would be. Or maybe I won't even find him. What if I find him, but it's just another gravestone.. I don't think that I could handle that last one, but I can't just stay here without ever knowing either. I take a deep breath, and give El one last look.

"I promise that I'll call every chance that I get, okay?" I say, smiling.

"You'd better, or I'll track you down and drag you back here." He said with a stern look on his face. I laughed a little, before he continued, "But you'd better leave now.. I might not let you leave if you don't." He said, giving me a smile. I smile back, and give him one last wave before I look back towards the road.

Another deep breath, and then I'm moving forwards towards an unknown destination. I don't even dare to look back. I know that if I do, I won't go. Instead, I pick up some speed, and turn onto one of the more populated roads. It will take me about half an hour to get to the highway, depending if traffic's good or bad. Hopefully it's good.

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~Sally's POV~

The town is buzzing with excitement, while everybody is trying to get everything ready. We're having a little welcome back party for Lightning. Since the racing season ended, he's finally coming home for more than a few days. Most of the team that now traveled with Lightning, had returned a few days ago. However, Doc and Lighting had stayed behind, in order to wrap a few loose ends up.

Doc has been mentoring Lightning for about a year now, showing him more than a few tricks. He was teaching him how to deal with the press, and how to behave around other racers as well. Everybody could see how much Lightning's improved since he first came here. Not just in attitude, but his racing skills have improved as well. Not that he wasn't already talented, but it's more than just raw talent now.

"Miss Sally?" Mater asked, making me jump. I must have zoned out while thinking. I turned towards the tow truck, who's now looking at me with wide eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare ya." He said, and I give him a small smile.

"It's alright Mater, I was just lost in my thoughts for a moment. How's everything going?" I ask, my eyes scanning the town. I give an impressed smile at how great everything looks.

"Everythin's just 'bout ready. All we need now is that fancy banner you just done made last night." He tells me, and I chuckle a little. I wouldn't exactly call it fancy, but I'm not one to argue with Mater.

"It's right here Mater. Do you all need help putting it up?" I ask, handing him the banner.

"Sure! You can tell us if it's high enough or not." He says enthusiastically, as he drives slowly backwards. We continue to talk as we make our way to the stop light in the middle of town. The Sherriff and Serge are already waiting for us, talking about the best way to hang the banner up. Their eyes settle on Mater and myself as we pull up.

"Hi Sherriff, hi Serge." I say, as Mater hands them the banner. They both give me a greeting simultaneously. They unfold the banner, revealing a red, blue, and black colored banner. The letters are a bold black, spelling out: 'WELCOME HOME!'. The background is a mix of red and blue, with a few decorative lightning bolts all over it. It's not the best sign in the world, but I feel a small sense of pride looking at it.

"Okay, if you two want to start attaching the rope to the upper right corner, me and Serge will start with the left." Sherriff says, handing some rope to me. I look over at Mater, who nods with an ever present smile on his face. I drive to the corner, and pull the banner out a little more. We all work together quickly, tying the knots, and getting ready to hoist the banner upwards. I back up a few feet, and watch as they boys begin pulling on the ropes.

"A little higher... Little bit more.. That's good, boys!" I say, and they proceed to tie the ropes down, holding the banner in place. Everybody comes to stand beside me, admiring their work. Well, everyone except for Mater. He was busy attaching balloons to the telephone poles. The balloons were bundled together in packs of white and black, just like the checkered flag.

"The town looks amazing!" Says a familiar voice behind me. I turn around and meet the eyes of Lightning and Doc. Everybody starts peeking outside of their shops, stopping whatever it was that they were doing. As if on cue, everyone came out to greet the two cars. After all of the congratulations were out of the way, Lightning turned to me. He gave me a questioning look. He's probably wondering why I'm being quite.

"You're early." I tell him simply, and cocky smile breaks out on his face.

"I thought you'd be happy to see me sooner." He says, the smile turning into a smirk. Mater drives up, and pulls Lightning into an excited conversation about the racing season. I laugh under my breath, and nudge Lightning as I drive past him. I go up to the older racecar, giving him a genuine smile. He looks at me, giving a small smile of his own.

"How was California, Doc?" I ask him.

"It was hot, and crowded, but I can't complain too much. It was good to be back." He said, looking away from the crowd that had gathered in the middle of town.

"Did everything go okay with the paparazzi?" I ask, truly curious. That is why the two racers decided to stay behind the rest of the team, after all, so I hope that Lightning learned a lot.

"He did pretty well, though he needs to stop flirting with fans." Doc says, absentmindedly. I don't respond to this comment, because it's not really any of my business anymore. Lightning and I had broken up after a few weeks of dating. We didn't end in a fight or anything like that, but we just seemed to drift apart after awhile. We still remained close friends, because we are still really important to each other. Just in a different way than we originally thought.

I give doc one last smile, before I drive back towards the crowd to join in on the celebration. Everybody is talking, and laughing together. Mater is telling Lightning about something or other, and Flo is going around asking everybody if they want something to drink. As I look at everybody, a happy smile comes to my face. Everything feels perfect, and I would not change anything about tonight.

The town has changed so much ever since lightning showed up, that it amazes me still. He gave everybody hope for the future, and helped us all move forward. I truly believe that he taught us just as much as we taught him. Because of him, we all became closer. We were close before he got here too, but now we are more like a family. I would always be thankful for that.

We all made our way over to Flo's Café to share drinks, and to make toasts to another good season. The hours passed by as everyone chatted about anything and everything. Before we knew it, the sun was setting, and a caramel glow had settled upon the town. It makes me feel peaceful and content. I look around at everybody talking, and notice that Doc and Lightning are sitting quietly together. I smile to myself and drive over to them. I pull up next to Lightning, and I'm instantly handed a can of oil. I gladly accept it, and take a sip. I sigh happily, and look over to Lightning.

"So, when are you going to start training for the next season?" I ask, and both of the racers look over at me. Lightning purses his lip in thought, and looks over at Doc.

"Maybe in a week or so?" Lightning says, his tone questioning.

"Well, that depends on you kid. It was a long season, so if you want, it'd be perfectly fine to take a week off to rest." The older racer said, and Lightning nodded. Lightning was more accepting of advice that other's gave him now, but anyone could see he trusted Doc's advice the most.

"So, in about a week we'll start up again." Lightning said, looking back at me. "How has the Cozy Cone been holding up?" He asks.

"Business is good. In fact, I've been getting so much business lately, that I'm thinking about expanding the hotel a little." I tell him, and a huge smile breaks out on his face.

"That's really great, Sally!" He exclaims, and I smile back at him. I've told him before that he's the reason people are starting to come through town again. Well, him and Doc. But he always tells me something like, 'I know you would have gotten this place on the map again.' We've had that conversation many times before, and I just stopped bringing it up. I open my mouth to tell him something else, but just as I'm about to speak, Mater pulls up in front of us.

"Hey you three, everyone's going to head over to Willie's Butte. Serge and the Sheriff said they got a surprise." Mater tells the three of us. Lightning looks over at me questioningly, as Mater drives off in the direction of Willies Butte.

"I have no idea..." I tell him, before I start following Mater and everybody else. Doc, Lightning, and myself, lag behind a little bit. We talked back and forth about how it's a beautiful night. It doesn't take us too long to get to our destination, and when we pull up, everybody is parked in a group. The sheriff spots us pulling up, and begins to talk to the group.

"Alright everybody, look out into the horizon." He says, driving out of the way as everybody's eyes shift to look out at the darkened sky. At first I see nothing but few stars against the sky. Then an explosion of color lit up the sky in front of us. The colors danced across the sky in a beautiful array, making a smile spread across my face. I had no idea that they had planned a firework show!

Flashes of red, blue, orange, and green flew across the sky, drawing everybody's full attention. Who knew that explosives could be so hypnotizing? We all watch in amazement as a group, but before we know it, the sky grows black once again. I blink a few times, trying to snap myself out of the trance like state.

"That was awesome!" Mater exclaimed, driving towards the three of us. I smile at his enthusiasm, and let out few laughs.

"It was really cool! I think this is best welcome home I've ever seen.. But I would have been perfectly happy just to see you guys again." Lightning said, looking around at everybody. My smile widen at his comment, and my eyes glance at Doc, who's wearing a smile of his own. It's good to see the older car happy again.

Chatter fills the silence as we all make our way back to town. I join in on the conversation and laughter, fully enjoying how wonderful the night had turned out. I can already tell that we are in for a long, and fun night.

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 **A/N Ta da! ^^ That was the second chapter of Finding You. If you guys notice any mistakes that seriously need fixing, please point them out to me so that I can fix them. Thanks for reading everybody! XD**


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